Notes: 1 In renminbi real terms2 For all state-owned and other forms of enterprises with annual sales over RMB20 millionSource: Jiangmen Municipal Bureau of Statistics

General Background

Jiangmen is located on the west bank of the Pearl River and set at the junction of the West River and the Peng River, its tributary. With Mount Penglai lying to its north and Mount Yandun to its south, the two peaks face each other in a gate-like formation, a geographical oddity that gave the city its name, with Jiangmen literally meaning “river gate”. Extending across a total area of 9,505 sq km, the city’s permanent population stood at 4.54 million as of 2016.

There are three districts under the administration of the Jiangmen Municipality – Pengjiang, Jianghai and Xinhui – as well as four county-level cities – Taishan, Kaiping, Heshan and Enping. The city is also often referred to as the Homeland of the Overseas Chinese, a testament to its historic role as the ancestral home of many of the Chinese migrants now living abroad.

Industries

Although the secondary industry is still the largest contributor to Jiangmen’s overall GDP, the tertiary industry’s share has been gradually growing since 2009. Despite this, the city remains committed to industrially-oriented development.

Composition of GDP (%)

2008

2016

Primary Industry

7.8

7.8

Secondary Industry

58.0

47.4

Tertiary Industry

34.2

44.8

Source: Jiangmen Municipal Bureau of Statistics

Traditionally, Jiangmen has been associated with a variety of different industry sectors, including textiles and garments, food and beverages, furniture manufacturing, building materials, metal production, home appliances and paper making. In line with the city’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), many of these sectors are to be substantially upgraded, with greater precision and a move towards intelligent development seen as the priorities.

In term of the city’s pillar industries, motorcycle manufacturing takes pride of place. In 2016, the city produced 2.55 million motorcycles, some 39% of the total number manufactured in the whole of Guangdong.

The new Five-Year Plan also prioritises the development of several major industrial clusters, including a rail transit cluster, which will see the city working in association with CRRC Rail Transit Equipment, the world’s largest supplier of such equipment.This will be complemented by the development of a number of additional clusters, including electric motorcycles; heavy trucks and commercial vehicles; new energy, new materials and equipment (including projects related to the Beidou Satellite Application); educational equipment; and health products (including health foods, cosmetics, medicine and medical equipment).

In the case of the city’s services sector, a fresh emphasis will be placed on the promotion of health services, including the introduction of health industry resources from Hong Kong, Macau and overseas, as well as the development of high-end elderly care services. In an additional move, the strategic development of innovative e-commerce formats for the manufacturing, agricultural and tourism sectors will also be prioritised. Integrating the development of the cultural/creative sectors, together with design services and a number of related industries is also high on the agenda.

Jiangmen is also committed to developing its logistics sector. This is in line with the long-term aim of establishing the city as West Guangdong’s key logistics hub. The proposed construction of a coastal logistics centre, serving the greater Guangdong Harbour Economic Zone, as well as a Heshan logistics hub, are also detailed in the Five-Year Plan.

Foreign Trade and Investment

At present, the tourism industry accounts for some 6.5% of Jiangmen’s GDP. For the period 2012-2016, the revenue from the sector grew at an average per annum rate in excess of 20% for five consecutive years. In 2016, Jiangmen was designated as a pioneer in the development of China’s characteristic international tourist destinations by the China National Tourism Administration.

At present, Jiangmen is home to one UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as featuring in the organisation’s Memory of the World programme, a co-ordinated initiative aimed at preserving documents of particular historical interest. The Kaiping Village site, together with its distinctive watchtowers, was accorded World Heritage status in 2007, while the city’s repository of Qiaopi and Yinxin Correspondence and Remittance Documents from Overseas Chinese was admitted to the Memory of the World programme in 2013. The city has now applied for World Heritage status for a site marking its historical contribution to the Maritime Silk Road of classical times.

In 2016, Jiangmen’s exports accounted for 2.5% of Guangdong’s total exports for the year. In all, 49.5% of the city’s exports (in value terms) were derived from foreign-invested enterprises. Of the city’s actually utilised FDI for 2015, 57.5% was sourced from Hong Kong, and 49.9% was allocated to the manufacturing sector.

I acknowledge that the above information may be used by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) for incorporation in all or any of its database for direct marketing or business matching purpose (and may therefore become available to the public within and/or outside of Hong Kong for use by them), and for any other purposes as stated in the Privacy Policy Statement (available at http://www.hktdc.com/mis/pps/en); I confirm that I have the consent and the authority of each individual named in this form to release their personal data for the purposes stated herein.

(If you are from a member state of the European Union ("EU") / European Economic Area ("EEA")), PLEASE tick here if you accept our use of your provided data for direct marketing purposes.

*For non-EU/EEA customers, please skip this box which is solely for EU/EEA customers as required by the relevant data protection law in the EU.